Lawyers for CH2M Hill, which purchased Alaska-based Veco Corp. Sept. 7, 2007, don't want to make public some of the evidence sought by Stevens' attorneys, including documents that show how the new company is cooperating with the federal corruption investigation.
Lawyers for C2HM Hill said in a motion filed Monday that they believe Stevens' defense team is conducting a "fishing expedition" for three things: communications between the company and prosecutors concerning the Veco sale, documents that detail whether the company would be prosecuted itself for misdeeds, and information that would show whether the company's former executives benefited by cooperating with the federal corruption investigation.
Lawyers for CH2M Hill say that they're not obligated to turn over any of the material requested by Stevens' lawyers, who have already asked the Justice Department for it. Prosecutors have not turned it over either, saying that it's irrelevant to their prosecution of Stevens.
"Unsatisfied with the government's decision not to produce this very same information ... the defendant now seeks these items from a nonparty in a backdoor attempt to circumvent the government's discovery obligations," lawyers for CH2M Hill wrote.
Stevens' lawyers counter that because Allen "apparently conducted numerous illegal activities through Veco, which have led to his conviction and that of several Alaska state officials, CH2M Hill's purchase of Veco could have exposed it to potential criminal indictment. Although an indictment would be an unwelcome event in the life of any corporation, for CH2M Hill criminal charges would be particularly devastating, because it is a government contractor and faces debarment if indicted."
They want the documents because they hope to show at trial that Allen had a motivation to "testify favorably" as a prosecution witness, Stevens' lawyers wrote.
CH2M Hill, an employee-owned company, bought Veco last September, and the formal stock-purchase agreement was filed publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The agreement showed that the Allen family and two former Veco executives, Roger Chan and Pete Leathard, owned shares in Veco either directly or through trusts.
The Veco owners shared in the proceeds according to their ownership percentages, with the Allen family together holding more than 80 percent, according to sales documents.
According to the CH2M Hill purchase agreement, the total value of the sale was $380 million. But after adjustments, the owners were left to divide $146 million in cash.
Another $70 million was withheld but payable by 2010 -- a guarantee against hidden or unexpected issues arising, including the possibility that Veco could still be charged criminally as a corporation.
Allen has testified he tried to get immunity for the company but couldn't. In its SEC filing, CH2M Hill said such an event would be "potentially detrimental to CH2M Hill's reputation in the business community or impact our future business operations." The new owners said they would continue to cooperate with ongoing investigations and have had a "productive dialogue" with the U.S. Justice Department
In July 2007, when CH2M Hill and Veco were negotiating the sale, the Justice department gave a list of 32 employees of Veco who couldn't be interviewed by a CH2M Hill representative to determine its risk in buying the company, according to an e-mail obtained by the Anchorage Daily News. Nearly all of those names are now on the trial witness list.
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